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Need a little help with milk supply!

Hi there,
I recently, accidentally, zapped my milk production by not drinking enough water. By the time I realized that was the problem, the damage was done. I have only done this once before and it came back in a couple of days. I'm on the second day and I am just stressed and worried, and of course this all happens at the same time my mother has a full hysterectomy and my grandmother ends up in the hospital.
Okay, so anyway, i'm a little worried because I just don't seem to be making enough milk for my infant, she is 3 months, she is peeing enough, so I know that she is hydrated. However, my milk will come out for a minute and the next thing I know she is fussing at the breast and when I squeeze, just drips come out. I usually have an ABUNDANT amount of milk and pump a lot too, but a stopped pumping a couple of weeks ago when this happened once before. WHICH, now that I realize how supply and demand works, I realize I shouldn't have stopped pumping. I'm just very frustrated because I know that she is hungry and when it doesn't come out enough, she freaks out and fusses. Yesterday (when my mom had surgery) I had to be at the hospital but I came home every two hours to feed, but my husband had to supplement with a bottle (pumped breast milk). Now, I don't think she is sucking hard enough to pull the milk out and it's frustrating because I don't want her to be hungry or sit and scream either. I know that giving her a bottle just adds to the problem, but she gets so upset that it's not coming out as easily as when I had a ton of milk. I just don't know what to do! Someone please help!

Re: Need a little help with milk supply!

Hi mama, welcome to the forum. Could you provide a little clarification on why you were pumping and how often/how much? Were there any issues with low supply or weight gain at the beginning?

It's common for moms to have a relative oversupply early on - nature's way of making sure there is enough milk. And if you have been doing a lot of pumping, that likely contributed to oversupply as well. Over time, supply regulates so that there is a close match between how much baby is nursing and how much milk mom is making (though again, if you are pumping on top of nursing, your body is making more milk than baby actually needs). This is normal. It could be that in your case, with the oversupply you had a relatively fast flow, and baby had adapted to that, and now is fussing that the flow is not as fast. But this in and of itself is not a reason to continue pumping, rather, assuming that there isn't a reason for the pumping, it would be better to let baby get used to you having a more normal supply. ie, as long as baby is gaining weight normally, there is no reason to artificially increase your supply through pumping. It may take a couple days for baby to get used to the new normal but that is better than spending your whole nursing relationship doing unnecessary pumping! And yes, minimizing bottle use is probably prudent (other than when you are physically separated). Also realize that there are downsides to having excess milk: engorgement, plugged ducts, mastitis.

As for water drinking, drink to thirst. As long as you are not getting dehydrated, it's not necessary to over-hydrate.